Week 20 Approach Shots: HP Byron Nelson Championship

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The HP Byron Nelson Championship, the first PGA TOUR event to be named in honor of a professional golfer, has one of the richest golf traditions in the game. The first tournament was in 1944, making the Dallas-area tournament the TOUR's ninth-oldest event -- two years older than two other Texas events, next week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the Shell Houston Open. The only breaks since that first tournament came in 1947-55, 1963 and 1965.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 3-6 p.m.); CBS (Sat.-Sun. 3-6 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sun. 12-6 p.m.)

Key links

• Expert picks | Tee times • Rankings | Fantasy Insider • Inside the Field | Course

Weather

The weather calls for potential thunderstorms on Thursday, but sunshine the rest of the week. Temperatures in the high 80s, low 90s. Winds will be from 5-10 mph. Updated weather info

The inaugural tournament in 1944 was played at Lakewood Country Club, with Byron Nelson recording a 10-stroke win over his nearest challenger, Harold "Jug" McSpaden. Nelson's victory that year was the beginning of a two-year stretch in which the World Golf Hall of Famer won 26 tournaments, including his PGA TOUR record-streak of 11 consecutive wins in 1945.

WILL HE REPEAT?: In 10 previous starts, Rory Sabbatini's career-best finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship was a tie for third in 2007, the only time he had finished in the top 10. Sabbatini will be attempting to become the first player to successfully defend a title at the HP Byron Nelson Championship since Tom Watson won three in a row from 1978-80. His 6-under 64 was the lowest final-round score by a winner at the HP Byron Nelson Championship since Peter Thomson's 63 in 1956.

Brett Wetterich, the 2006 champion, tied for 10th in 2007, the first defending champion since Fred Couples, who also tied for 10th in 1988, to record a top-10 at the tournament the year after his win.

LOCAL AMATEUR: Jordan Spieth, a 16-year-old junior at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, is the event's first amateur exemption since 1995. He also finished second in the Junior PGA Championship last year and was named the Rolex Junior Player of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association. The only previous amateur exemptions granted by the tournament were to Trip Kuehne (1995), Justin Leonard (1993) and Tiger Woods (1993).

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: With his 2009 victory, South Africa's Rory Sabbatini became the 12th international winner of the HP Byron Nelson Championship and second in a row. In 2008, Australia's Adam Scott won. Six of the 12 international champions have won in the first decade of the 2000s. They are Jesper Parnevik (Sweden, 2000); Shigeki Maruyama (Japan, 2002); Vijay Singh (Fiji, 2003); Sergio Garcia (Spain, 2004); and Scott and Sabbatini.

Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for the HP Byron Nelson. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY J.B. HOLMES: Is coming off two quality starts and needs some help this week to get into the top 50 and avoid a U.S. Open qualifier. Craig DOLCH DUSTIN JOHNSON: The run of winners in their 20s continues on the PGA TOUR at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Melanie HAUSER RICKIE FOWLER: He's got the length, he's got the game. First time magic?

Did you know?

Defending champion Sabbatini became the 14th player to win both the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial during their career. Others who have completed the "DFW Double" are Ben Crenshaw, Roberto De Vicenzo, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Bruce Devlin, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Bruce Lietzke, Nick Price, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Julius Boros.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Heath Slocum Charlie Wi Group B J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan Charley Hoffman, Andres Romero Group C Ben Crane Rickie Fowler

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What the winner gets

A win this week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship will earn the following benefits: • Fully Exempt for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 and 2012. • 500 FedExCup points. It took 354 points to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in 2009 and 494 to reach the Deutsche Bank Championship. • A spot in the 2011 SBS Championship, 2011 Masters and 2011 PLAYERS. • If a U.S. player, 1,170,000 points towards making the 2011 Presidents Cup team. • If it is a second victory for a player since last June 4, a spot in the U.S. Open.